Demountable sanitary vegetable bin



July 7, 1925. 1,544,764

A. B. LARSON DEMOUNTABLE SANITARY VEGETABLE BIN /HvEr/Tof?, Angus? Lnron,

July 7, 1925; 1,544,764

A. B. LARsoN DEMOUNTABLE SANITARY VEGETABLE BIN Filed MaIGh 24i 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IH-VVEH TOR, August 5. Larson,

Patented July 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES AUGUST B. LARSON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIA-NA.

DEMOUNTABLE SANITARY vEGETAiLE BIN.

Application filed March 24, 19.24. Serial No. 701,402;

I To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, AUGUs'r B. LARsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Demountable Sanltary Vegetable Bins, of which the following is a specification.

The handling of vegetables, such as poil' tatoes, onions, carrots, beets, turnips, and" the like, in stores where they must be picked up one by one Yto be weighed or measured for the purchaser, has always been a disagreeable as well as a dirty and time-conu suming job, and I have conceived .an improvement in bins for such vegetables as may be dumped and scooped without skin injury, and whereby the vegetables may be emptied into the bin directly from .the original container, and freedy from -dirt as they are scooped in quantities for weighing or measuring, without being touched by hand, int-o small bags or other containers used yfor the customers convenience,

My demountable sanitary vegetable bin is self-feeding from a hopper, to a supply trough or platform where they arecleaned and freed from foreign dirt and refuse. My device promotes sanitation, in that dirt is not weighed up with the vegetables, and human hands do no need to touch them. It also prevents the leaving in the bin of a quantity of small vegetables, since all sizes roll .down alike, and are scooped off vof the platform without selection. Theusualclerk will involuntarily pick the largest vegetables first, when he must handle them vby hand, one by one.

It is also a primary object .ofgmy invention to form the bin in such manner that its` component partsV permit lit to be set vupwor disassembled without use of or thewithdrawal of nails, screws, bolts,vor similar retaining devices, Vand when disassembled `the parts may be laid together in a smallcompact lpackage for storage and shipment from point to point.

I accomplish the above, and such other objects as may become evident in the following detailed description, by the means as shown in the accompanying drawing, lin

which y y Y Y Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my bin.; Fig. 2, a top plan view, lwith fragments ofthe rst hopper-board removed-, Fig. 3,-a front elevation; Fig. 4, a side elevation 4in detail of the trough-platformandpan-,supporting members; Fig. f5, a' vertical elevation ofthe inner side walls, and Fig. 6, a detail show'-` ing the method of notching to retain Ithe pfan trackon its support. v Y, t

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the various views.

The bin proper is formed bythe end Walls 5 land 6, having the end cleats 7, 8,'andv910,- secured to them; the Afirst wall 11, having secured to its inner side the end-retaining strips 12 and 13, each spread outwardlythe thickness ofthe endwalls 5 or 6, from the corner posts 14 and 15, which arabecured --to the wall 11 on the samesidejof it as are the-strips 12 and 13, andthe trouglb platform postsv16' and 17 are secured to th'e reverse or outer side of the wall 11;.,and the back wall 18, being formed Ithe sameas the front side, having the. end retaining strips 19 and 20, the corner posts 21 and 22, and the trough platform posts 23 and 24;.

The corner posts 14, 15, 21, and 22, each have a channel 25 formed in them byI removing a rectangular vcross-'section of material from the outer l,corner of the postad- Jacent the wall to which it is secured. lThe bin is'assembled `by sliding the en'd walls and 6, from the top down,between the ends of the first ywalllll and back wall 18, to engage the cleats 7, 8, and 9, 10, in the chanf nels 25, which prevents end displacementof the walls 5 and 6. These walls are held in contact with the corner posts 14E, 15, 21 and 22, .by the end retaining strips 12, 13, and 19, 20, so that a rigid four-walled bin is produced withoutfurther necessity of se# curing the corners.

floor-piece 26, is put loosely behind 'and contacting the front trough-platform posts 16 and 17, and a similar floonpiece' 27, is placed in frontv of and contacting the back platform posts 23 and 24. Bothy floor pieces v26 and .27, are notched to receive the tracks 28 and29, correspondingly notched as shown in vperspective in Fig. 6, such that the track 28 is held in contact with lthe inner sides of the platform posts 16 and 23, land thetraek 29 in contact with the inner sides of'th'e platform posts 17 and 24. A pan 30, rests on the tracks'28` and 29, and is there held in alignmentby the flanges 31 and 32 of the tracks, such that the pan may be slid backward and forward. It is 4evident by' the construction .of the tracks and floor-pieces just described, that the notched pieces pre- 17 and 24.

Resting on top of the blocks 33 and 34, and secured to the front platform posts 16 and 17, is the platform rail 37. A. rail 38, is similarly secured to the back platform posts 23 and 24. The trough-wall 39 rests on the rails 37 and 38, and contacts the inner sides of the platform posts 16 and 23, and a corresponding trough-wall 40, likewise rests on the rails 37 and 38, and contacts the inner sides of the platform posts 17 and 24.

I form a slatted platform 41 by securing 'Il a number of slats 42, to the two transverse cleats 43 and 44, so spaced apart that when the platform 41 is dropped between the side-trough walls 39 and 40, to rest on the rails 37 and 38, the cleat 43 contacts the back side of the rail 37, and the cleat 44 contacts the front side of the rail 38. r1`he platform 41, is thus held such that there can be no horizontal displacement, although merely dropped into position.

It is evident from the foregoing description, that the side trough walls 39 and 40, have their lower edges spaced apart and held in contact with the platform posts by reason of the platform 41 being lplaced between. The upper edges of the trough` walls 39 and 40, engage in notches 45, cut in the front and back walls 11 and 18, so

lpositioned as to retain the top edges of the trough-walls in contact with the platform posts. The trough-wall 39, has the side cleat 46, adapted to contact the platform post 16, `such that the wall 39 may not be pushed backward. A. cleat 47, secured to the trough-wall 40, performs the same function with the wall 4 A slide-board 48, is slidingly held, sloping inwardly and downwardly, between the trough-walls 39 and 40, between the cleats 49 and 50 on the wall 39, and the-cleats 51 and 52, on the wall 40. rllhe slide-board 48 is shown in Fig. 1, as being partly withdrawn. When the slide-board 48 is dropped down to contact the platform 41, its upper edge projects slightly above the bacl wall 18, as in Fig. 4, which projection serves not only as a means of gripping the slide-board 48, for withdrawal, but also to prevent the sliding forward of the side walls 39 and 40.

To the front bin-wall 11, I secure a cleat 53, sloping downwardly from the outer edge toward the trough wall 39, and to the back bin-wall 18, I secure a cleat 54, similarly sloped both for the purpose of supporting the side hopper board 55, having its lower edge bearing against the trough wall 39, and its top side flush with the top edge of the wall. Similarly, the other hopper board 56 is held in position, neither hopper-board 55 or 56 being further secured. On the top side of the hopper-board 55, I secure a cleat 57 sloping downwardly and baclnvardiy, and similarly, I secure a cleat 58, to the other hopper-board 56. The front hopperboard 59 bears against these cleats 57 and 58, having its ends resting on the hopper boards 55 and 56, and its front edge against the front wall 11. -Y

It will be noted from the ent-ire foregoing description, that none of the component parts of my bin are permanently attached one to the other, except where indicated as being so secured, with the result that the bin may be set up and taken down times innumerable without aid of tools or damage to the parts, and it will also be noted that the parts so cleverly interlock or fit together as to form a substantial bin.

The vegetables are dumped into the bin and roll down over the hopper board down onto the slatted platform between the trough walls, such that the dirt and refuse may drop between the slats down into the pan below. is the vegetables are scraped off the platform from the front end, more drop down onto the platform to take their place.

IlVhile I have here described a form of construction best lnown to nie as adapted to be formed from wood, an all-metal, or part met-al and part wood construction may be used with minor chan-ges without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to the precise form as shown and described, nor any more than may be required by the following claims. i

I claim:

1. In a vegetable bin, walls demountably interlocked; hopper members supported within said walls; a platform below said hopper members and having a plurality of openings therethrough; side walls about said platform; a pan below said platform; means for supporting and retaining said platform side walls and said pan and a slide-board removably retained between cleats secured to the back ends of said platform side walls.

2. In a vegetable bin, walls demountably interlocked by retaining members secured thereto; hopper members supported within said walls; a platform having a plurality of openings therethrough and lying below said hopper members; side walls about said platform; a pair of front platform-supporting posts; a front floor-piece transversely contacting one similar set of faces of said pair of front platform-supporting posts; a back floor-piece transversely contacting a similar set of faces of said back platform supporting posts, said last set of faces being on the side of the posts the reverse from that of said first set of faces; pan-supporting members internotched with said front and back Hoor-pieces, so located on said floor-pieces, as to prevent side movement of each of said ioor-pieces by reason of said pan members contacting said platform-,supporting posts; projecting members secured to said platform posts to prevent upward displacement of said floor-pieces; transverse rails above said projecting members and secured to said platform supporting posts for the purpose of supporting` said platform and platform side-walls; and a pan slidingly retained by said pan supporting members below said platform.

3. In a vegetablebin, a front wall; a. back wall; two end walls demountably interlocled to said front and back walls by sliding between retaining members secured to said front and back walls; hopper members demountably supported within said walls; a removable platform having a plurality of openings therethrough; means for supporting said platform below said hopper boards; means for supporting a removable pan below and in alignment with said platform; downwardly project-ing members from said platform contacting opposite sides of said platform supporting means; a removable wall on each side of said platform resting on said platform supporting means and being held apart by reason of said platform lying between, said 'walls being held upright by engaging in notches in said front and back walls; cleats on said platform lwalls contacting said platfornrsupporting means to prevent displacement of said walls; and a slide-board slipping downwardly and inwardly between the bac-k ends of said platform walls and slidingly retained between cleats secured to said platform walls, said slide-board having projecting means for contacting the outer side of the lower edge of said back wall.

4. In a vegetable bin; a front wall; a vertical retaining member at each end of said front wall; a corner post secured to each end of said front wall and spaced inwardly from said retaining member to form a groove between; each of said posts having a channel opening into the groove; a back wall; a vertical retaining member at each end of said back wall; a corner post secured to each end of said back wall and spaced inwardly from said retaining member to form a groove between, each of said posts having a channel opening into the groove; an end wall between said front and said back wall adapted to slide in the grooves between said vertical retaining members and lsaid corner posts; projecting members on said end wall engaging in the channels in said corner posts; hopper members withinv said walls; a removable platform having a plurality of openings therethrough below said hopper members; platform supporting means; a removable wall on each side of said platform; a back removable wall slidingly held between the platform side-walls; a removable pan below said platform; and means for supporting and retaining said pan in alignment with said platform.

Signed at Indianapolis7 Indiana, this 14th day of March, 1924.

AUGUST B. LARsoN. 

